Week in Review - August 20, 2010

WEEK in REVIEW

New NASET Publications and Articles of Interest in Special Education That Were Reported This Week

Dear NASET Members:

Welcome to NASET'sWEEK in REVIEW.  Here, we provide you with the latest publications from  NASET to read and download, as well as some of the most interesting issues that have happened this week in the field of special education.  We hope you enjoy this publication.  Feel free to send us articles for this publication or let us know your thoughts about the WEEK in REVIEW at news@naset.org. Have a great weekend.
 
Sincerely,

NASETNews Team

 
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New This Week on NASET

Discipline of Students in Special Education Series

Part 1 of 9

General Authority of School Personnel  What authority do school personnel have to discipline a student with a disability who has violated a code of student conduct? Details here, including the school's general authority, case-by-case determinations, the 10-day rule, and what constitutes a "change of placement."

To read or download this issue - Click here  

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Resource Review

August 2010

IN THIS ISSUE ARE RESOURCES IN THE FOLLOWING AREAS:

  • Autism
  • Behavioral Health Problems
  • Bilingualism
  • Early Intervention
  • Employment
  • Extended School Year Services
  • For Parents
  • Genetics
  • Healthcare and Disabilities
  • Mental Illness
  • Teacher Resources
  • Social Networking
  • Transition to Work and Adulthood 

To read or download this issue - Click here

__________________________

PowerPointPresentation

Highly Qualified Teachers

Title: Highly Qualified Teachers
Total Number of Slides: 23
PowerPoint Description: Highly Qualified Teachers is a powerpoint presentation that takes an indepth look at a new element in IDEA: its definition of "highly qualified teacher." State educational agencies (SEAs), local educational agencies (LEAs), parents, and community members have many questions and concerns about the requirements for highly qualified teachers. State and local agencies must develop ways to recruit and retain teachers with those qualifications, as well as encourage existing employees meet the requirements and become highly qualified. Parents and community members want the assurance that their children are receiving instruction from appropriately trained teachers. HQT is seen as integral in helping States to meet their requirements for adequate yearly progress (AYP) under the No Child Left Behind Act and, above all, to improve results for our children with and without disabilities..

To download this presentation - Click here (login required)

Quick Links To NASET

Neurological Process for the Recognition of Letters and Numbers Explained

How does the brain link the visual basic traits of letters and numbers to abstract representations and to words? Scientists from the Basque Research Center on Cognition, Brain and Language have analyzed the influence of context on the visual recognition of a written word regardless of the format in which these letters may be displayed. "We analyzed the influence of the context given by a word when linking the physical traits of its components to the abstract representations of letters," explains Nicola Molinaro, main author of the study and researcher of the Basque Research Center on Cognition, Brain and Language (BCBL). The results, published in Neuropsychologia journal, show that the linguistic context given by a word impacts the way in which single abstract representations of the letters that make it up are accessed, and that such access is partially independent from the physical properties of the stimuli. To read more, click here

Adults with Developmental Disabilities Left in Limbo in Dispute Over Care

Federal rules don't bar people with developmental disabilities from getting services outside of the state, Nebraska lawmakers were told Thursday. Two dozen Nebraskans with developmental disabilities have been in limbo since the state said they could no longer pay for them to receive services such as job training in the border states of South Dakota and Iowa. In some cases, the people went outside Nebraska for help because their parents and guardians either preferred services offered in those states or couldn't find them close to their homes in Nebraska. Officials with the state Department of Health and Human Services have said federal rules prevent them from renewing contracts with two groups - Goodwill Industries in Sioux City, Iowa, and Ability Building Services in Yankton, S.D. - that have provided services to the group of two dozen. The adults and their parents blasted the decision as uncaring and potentially harmful during a legislative hearing Thursday, with some saying they are considering moving to Iowa and South Dakota. To read more, click here

Airline Being Investigation For Turning Away Individuals With Disabilities

France's Transport Minister, Dominique Bussereau, has called for an inquiry into allegations that low-cost airline Easyjet barred disabled passengers from flying unaccompanied. He ordered the move after reports that Easyjet had refused to fly disabled passengers on safety grounds. They were told they must be accompanied by another passenger in order to board the plane.
Easyjet said they were simply complying with safety regulations. "European safety regulations require that all passengers are able to evacuate an aircraft within 90 seconds and therefore we require that some passengers with reduced mobility have a travel companion," a spokesman for the company said. To read more, click here

NASET Sponsor - MAYER JOHNSON

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TRIVIA QUESTION OF THE WEEK

Guess the answer to this week's trivia question and we'll recognize you in next week's Week in Review.
Congratulations to:
Heather Shyrer   Jenny Bassford           Christie Miller                     Sabrina Valdez   Rajasri Govindaraju   Catherine Cardenas               Mary Roberts       Brian Merusi                 Cindy Stahl                         Barbara Heckelmann

who correctly identified the answer to last week's trivia question: What is the most commonly prescribed non-stimulant medication for treatment of children with ADHD? ANSWER:  Strattera (Atomoxetine)
 

THIS WEEK'S TRIVIAQUESTION:

What section of the Rehabilitation Act forbids discrimination in all federally funded programs, including education and vocational programs?
 
If you know the answer, send an email to contactus@naset.org
 
All answers must be submitted no later than Monday, August 23, 2010 at 12:00 p.m.

Robot Teaches Children How To Use Wheelchair At Their Own Pace

US researchers are developing a wheelchair that uses a robot to teach young users how to use it safely at their own pace, in the hope that it will lower the cost and improve accessibility to wheelchair training for children with a disability. You can read how Dr Laura Marchal-Crespo and colleagues at the University of California at Irvine developed and tested the robotic wheelchair with a group of children without disabilities and one child with cerebral palsy, in the 13 August issue of the open access Journal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation.The researchers developed ROLY, RObot-assisted Learning for Young drivers, because the current way of training young children to use a powered wheelchair requires a trained therapist to be with them nearly all the time, mostly using the hand over hand method. This is "expensive and labor-intensive" said Marchal-Crespo in a prepared statement. To read more, click here

Paul Longmore, Historian And Advocate For Individuals with Disabilities, Dies

Paul Longmore, who died on Monday, was one of the nation's leading scholars of disability history. But he first got national attention for an unscholarly act: He burned a copy of his first book. That was back in 1988 and Longmore, then 42 and a visiting scholar at Stanford University, was trying to make a point about the bizarre system of work disincentives that keep many disabled people from taking jobs and, in his case, threatened not only his ability to work, but to live, too. Longmore wrote - and this is how he wrote his first book, The Invention of George Washington - by holding a pen in his mouth, and using it to punch the keyboard. He'd contracted polio when he was 7, and was unable to use his hands. He also breathed with a ventilator at night and part of the day. To read more, click here 

Did You Know That....

Primary Prevention" is designed to reduce the number of new cases (incidence) of a disability (Heward, 2009).

More College Students are Afflicted with Severe Mental Illness

The number of college students who are afflicted with a serious mental illness is rising, according to data presented Thursday at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Assn. in San Diego. The findings came from an analysis of 3,265 college students who used campus counseling services between September 1997 and August 2009. The students were screened for mental disorders, suicidal thoughts and self-injurious behavior. In 1998, 93% of the students seeking counseling were diagnosed with one mental disorder, compared to 96% of students in 2009. The percentage of students with moderate to severe depression rose from 34% to 41% while the number of students on psychiatric medications increased from 11% to 24%. To read more, click here

New Brain Scan to Detect Autism in 15 Minutes

A new test can determine whether someone has a form of autism spectrum disorder with up to 90% accuracy. The new brain scan developed by scientists at the Institute of Psychiatry in King's College London maps cerebral structural changes in patients in 15 minutes. This will be 20 times more cost effective and gives much quicker results, according to the researchers. The test is especially good news for children, who could be screened for the disorder more effectively than in the past. Autism spectrum disorder (ASD), caused by abnormalities in brain development, affects more than 500,000 people in the UK alone. People with the condition share an inability to communicate, form social relationships, and may show repetitive use of words or movements. The new scan builds a 3D model that is analysed by computer software programmed to identify the telltale signs of autism in the structure of the brain. To read more, click here

61 Heads of Special Education Schools Make More than the New Jersey Governor

It's not clear whether salary caps that Gov. Chris Christie wants for New Jersey's school superintendents would apply to private schools funded with tax dollars. An analysis by The Record newspaper found more than 60 administrators for the state's 152 private special education schools earn more than the $175,000 cap. None of the state's special education private schools had more than 460 students last year. Education Department spokesman Alan Guenther said the rules still are being drafted and will be presented in September, but the governor's spokesman indicated that the cap should be consistent for all state-paid school administrator salaries. Pay levels at special private schools are controlled by the state because most of the money the schools make is from tuition paid by the public schools that send students. To read more, click here

Immune Responses During Pregnancy Linked to Schizophrenia Among Offspring

Infections like the flu are common occurrences during pregnancy, and research has shown that children born to mothers who suffered from flu, viruses and other infections during pregnancy have about a 1.5 to 7 times increased risk for schizophrenia. A new study out of Temple University examines what's behind that link. In a study published this month in Schizophrenia Research, Temple University psychologist Lauren Ellman found that exposure during pregnancy to certain immune proteins, such as those produced in response to the flu, leads to increased risk for brain abnormalities associated with schizophrenia in offspring. The good news, says Ellman, is that not all of the women in the study who showed an increase in immune proteins gave birth to offspring who developed brain alterations. "This tells us that some other factor -- perhaps a genetic vulnerability or something from the environment -- must also be present for the increased immune protein levels to lead to the brain alterations we identified," she said. To read more, click here

NASET Member Benefit - Group Savings Plus from Liberty Mutual

Liberty Mutual Savings

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Learn More in Kindergarten, Earn More as an Adult

There isn't a lot of research that links early childhood test scores to earnings as an adult. But new research reveals a surprising finding: Students who learn more in kindergarten earn more as adults. They are also more successful overall. Harvard University economist John Friedman says he and a group of colleagues found that students who progress during their kindergarten year from attaining an average score on the Stanford Achievement Test to attaining a score in the 60th percentile can expect to make about $1,000 more a year at age 27 than students whose scores remain average. Taking into account all variation across kindergarten classes, including class size, individuals who learn more--as measured by an above-average score on the Stanford Achievement Test--and are in smaller classes earn about $2,000 more per year at age 27. To read more, click here

Rodeo Meets Needs of Students in Special Education

The Morgan County Rodeo isn't just another rodeo on this day. It's for special needs adults and children. It's a place where a little boy named Malcolm can scream with delight after dunking a deputy. Little girls realize their dreams of being a pretty cowgirl. Ellen Casale is a special ed teacher at Cedar Ridge Middle School in Decatur. She says this day is one created just for these cowpokes and they know it. "It's great for their self esteem. They get to be the stars. They get to be the main deals and they're just so excited," said Casale. To read more, click here

Did You Know That.....

"Secondary Prevention" is aimed at individuals who have already been exposed to or are displaying specific risk factors andis intended to eliminate or counteract the effects of those risk factors (Heward, 2009).

NASET Sponsor - MAYER JOHNSON 

MJ_8_10

To learn more - Click here

Inherited Brain Activity Predicts Childhood Risk for Anxiety, Research Finds

A new study focused on anxiety and brain activity pinpoints the brain regions that are relevant to developing childhood anxiety. The findings, published in the Aug. 12 edition of the journal Nature, may lead to new strategies for early detection and treatment of at-risk children. "Children with anxious temperaments suffer from extreme shyness, persistent worry and increased bodily responses to stress," says Ned H. Kalin, chair of psychiatry at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health, who led the research. "It has long been known that these children are at increased risk of developing anxiety, depression, and associated substance abuse disorders." The new study by Kalin and colleagues demonstrated that increased brain activity in the amygdala and anterior hippocampus could predict anxious temperament in young primates. To read more, click here

ADHD: Who Makes the Diagnosis?

As a toddler, Ian Barrier got expelled from day care. "They just said that he was all over the place, he couldn't handle the structure, they didn't have the staff or the skills to deal with it," said his mother, Amy Barr. "They said, 'We think he has ADD or ADHD' and I'm like, 'What is that?" Ian, now 11, and his 9-year-old brother Aidan are just two examples of some 5 million children in the United States who have received the diagnosis of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), a condition marked by impulsive behavior and a lack of focus.
But although this is a medical condition with medical treatments available, often doctors aren't the ones suggesting a diagnosis. Many parents begin their struggles with treating their children's ADHD the way that Barr did: with a suggested diagnosis from a school or day care setting. That's a problem, doctors say, when there could be many other factors contributing to a child's behaviorTo read more, click here

Acetaminophen Use in Adolescents Linked to Doubled Risk of Asthma

New evidence linking the use of acetaminophen to development of asthma and eczema suggests that even monthly use of the drug in adolescents may more than double risk of asthma in adolescents compared to those who used none at all; yearly use was associated with a 50 percent increase in the risk of asthma. The research results will be published online on the American Thoracic Society's Web site ahead of the print edition of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine. "This study has identified that the reported use of acetaminophen in 13- and 14 year old adolescent children was associated with an exposure-dependent increased risk of asthma symptoms," said study first author Richard Beasley, M.D., professor of medicine, at the Medical Research Institute of New Zealand on behalf of the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC). To read more, click here

Did You Know That....

"Tertiary Prevention" is aimed at individuals with a disability and intended to prevent the effects of a disability from worsening (Heward, 2009).

Helping Students with Learning Disabilities Prepare for College

As we head into mid-August, it's time to start thinking about students heading back to school or heading off to college.  USA Today earlier this week published a tremendous article about "Project Access," a program designed to help those with learning disabilities get prepared for college.  Nationwide, programs like Project Access are blossoming.  As the article mentions, "the number of such programs has increased tenfold," since 2001.  To read more, click here

Culture Matters in Suicidal Behavior Patterns and Prevention

Women and girls in the United States consider and engage in suicidal behavior more often than men and boys, but die of suicide at lower rate -- a gender paradox enabled by U.S. cultural norms of gender and suicidal behavior, according to a psychologist who spoke at the 118th Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association. "Everywhere, suicidal behavior is culturally scripted," said Silvia S. Canetto, PhD, of Colorado State University. "Women and men adopt the self-destructive behaviors that are expected of them within their cultures." While the gender paradox of suicidal behavior is common, particularly in industrialized countries, it is not universal, she said. In China, for example, women die of suicide at higher rates than men. In Finland and Ireland, men and women engage in nonfatal suicidal behavior at similar rates. There are more exceptions to the gender paradox of suicidal behavior when one examines female/male patterns of suicidality by age or culture, she said. To read more, click here

Board Certification in Special Education Available to NASET Members

Through an agreement with The American Academy of Special Education Professionals (AASEP), NASET members now have the opportunity to achieve AASEP Board Certification in Special Education - (B.C.S.E.) at a reduced fee.  AASEP Board Certification in Special Education - (B.C.S.E.) is a voluntary choice on the part of the candidate. The candidate for Board Certification wishes to demonstrate a commitment to excellence to employers, peers, administrators, other professionals, and parents. From the standpoint of the Academy, board certification will demonstrate the highest professional competency in the area of special education. Board Certification in Special Education establishes a much needed standard for professionals, across disciplines, who work with exceptional children.   For more information on Board Certification in Special Education, click here

Opinion:  Gifted Students Stranded at the Top

Perhaps the saddest commentary on education reform is the anomaly that it's not OK to be smart. Parents of the country's 3 million gifted children wonder at the irony of an education system that races to get the top, but neglects the kids already there. An unintended legacy of the 2001 No Child Left Behind Act is that it punished students already ahead. Federal mandates to help students reach proficiency caused many schools to pull resources away from gifted learners, says the National Association for Gifted Children (NAGC). "Our nation has fostered a troublesome underinvestment in the very student population most likely to be its next generation of innovators, discoverers, and pioneers," wrote NAGC President Ann Robinson. In regular classrooms without resources or attention, gifted children's scores suffer: While low performing students made rapid gains over the last decade, performance of students in the top 10 percent remained largely flat, according to the Thomas B. Fordham Institute. To read more, click here

Klein Loses on a Charter:  N.Y.'s Chancellor's Powers Appear Weakened

Under political pressure, Chancellor Joel Klein has backed off his vow to allow a charter school to expand inside a public school on the Lower East Side, another indication that the chancellor's powers were weakened when the mayoral-control law was renewed last year. Mr. Klein's retreat means that the 125 fifth- and sixth-graders at Girls Prep Middle School won't start classes on Monday in the P.S. 188 building as planned. Instead, teachers have stopped setting up classrooms and the school's staff and board members-among them Wall Street investors-are scrambling to find private space for the girls. Mr. Klein's strategy of promoting the proliferation of charter schools by giving them space inside current school buildings has inspired vocal opposition from politicians and communities. In renewing Mayor Michael Bloomberg's control over the schools last year, the state Legislature increased the requirements of the city's Department of Education to provide specific information to community members about the effects on students when the DOE alters space usage inside schools. To read more, click here

Food for Thought

Model for kids and let them watch. That way they can practice a new way to learn --- trial and success.
                                    Author Unknown

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